


The Engineer’s Heart

by Tundra0Dragon



Category: Pikmin (Video Game)
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Fluff, M/M, One Shot, Short & Sweet, alph's trying to figure out how to admit his feelings but is struggling, also features some flash backs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:22:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25785082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tundra0Dragon/pseuds/Tundra0Dragon
Summary: Alph couldn't keep this bottled up any more. He had to say it, he had to tell him how he felt.Unfortunately these kinds of things don't come easy for Alph.
Relationships: Alph & Charlie, Alph/Charlie
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	The Engineer’s Heart

**Author's Note:**

> This will also be on my Tumblr. The link to that version is right [here](https://gay-bulborb.tumblr.com/post/625894446196752384/the-engineers-heart)!

_ Alph smiled wide as he stood before Captain Charlie – his captain! He was going to go to PNF-404! He was going to be a hero! _

_ He had seen the captain many times on TV. But never in person, not until today.  _

_ “You’re Alph? Drake’s grandson?” the captain asked as he approached him.  _

_ “Yes sir!”  _

_ “I’ve heard of you.” That alone made Alph flush up a little. "I've heard you do good work. I expect good things from you.” _

_ “I won’t disappoint, sir!” Anxiety began to eat away at him a little. He couldn’t disappoint Charlie. He wasn’t sure if he could handle such a thing.  _

* * *

Alph crumpled up the paper and tossed it into an already over-flowing bin.  _ None of it sounds right! Why does none of it sound right?!? _ He grunted as he leaned back into the chair. They were leaving the planet, and now well on their way to  Hocotate in order to return  Olimar home. 

Alph couldn’t keep it bottled up any more. He had to say something – he HAD to do this. He thought that making it a poem would be easier, but that wasn’t turning out to be the case. 

He pulled out another sheet and tried again. 

“I think of you so much

You are strong. And kind. 

A true leader for us b”

Alph quickly balled the paper up. No! No  no no – it still didn’t sound right! 

He’d have to try again. 

* * *

_ Alph stood there as the  _ _ Vehemoth _ __ _ Phosbat _ _ fell to the ground, letting out one final death cry. He stood there, side by side with Brittany, the both of them stiff as they waited.  _

_ Was... was the captain okay? _

_ The beast then twitched, once, twice, and then its mouth was pushed open by Captain Charlie.  _

_ He jumped out of the  _ _ creature, _ _ a look of relief spread across his face. “Ah,  _ _ it’s _ _ great to see  _ _ yo _ _ -” _

_ He was cut off with an “oof” when Alph ran over and hugged him tightly. It was rather awkward, given that their helmets got in the way, but it was also still genuine.  _

_ “Captain! Thank the stars you’re alive! It took us so long to find you and Brittany was pretty sure you were dead and I was starting to worry that myself especially when your signal came out of that thing, I was for sure it had managed to kill you but you’re alive!!! You’re alive!!!” Alph spoke quickly, and part way through he had started to cry which made it even harder to understand him.  _

_ “Woah, woah... hey, hey it’s okay Alph, it’s okay...” He gently began to rub the engineer’s back. “I’m okay now... you don’t need to cry over me.” _

* * *

“To think one could find love on a planet such as this 

Yet here I am 

Smitten and awe-struct by your bravery, your kindness, your”

Alph once again crumpled it up. “Dammit. Why can’t the words just...  _ work _ ?”

* * *

_ “What ‘cha up to?” Charlie asked as he walked closer.  _

_ Alph looked up from his work. “Oh, just some basic upgrades to the Drake’s computer. Nothing too fancy.” _

_ “What will it do?” _

_ “Eh, just make things run more smoothly on a software level. Useful, but nothing too big.” _

_ Charlie looked at the code work Alph had done. “Really? I thought the Drake’s computer ran just fine.” _

_ “Oh, it did. But it could be better. See, the Drake’s computer ran on code based on the work of Eric  _ _ Rinnal _ _ , who then became famous for his work. That basic “ _ _ Rinnal _ _ ” type code has been used in all  _ _ Koppait _ _ space craft sense. And it works well! Really well! But it has some flaws. See,  _ _ Rinnal’s _ _ work was based off of Halbert  _ _ Trenok’s _ _ own work in the field. And  _ _ Trenok’s _ _ work... it was good, and it was super useful and amazing back in his day. But that’s the thing – back in his day! It’s quite outdated now.  _ _ Rinnal _ _ was able to fix most quirks that  _ _ Trenok’s _ _ system had but there’s still a few little wrinkles that could be ironed out. You know, that’s why REKO model ships are infamous for being so awful – they still run on the  _ _ Trenok _ _ system! I mean, it works, I guess, but-” Alph stopped himself midsentence when he saw the bewildered look on Charlie’s face. “O-Oh... sorry if I was being kind of annoying there.” _

_ “You were not being annoying.” Charlie quickly insisted. “You were sharing your interest. I couldn’t quite follow but that’s no reason to feel bad.” _

_ Alph smiled a little. “Oh... thanks.” _

_ “Now how about you tell me exactly how this Tree-nook's stuff was out dated, hm?” _

_ “ _ _ Trenok _ _.” Alph corrected. “And... I’m not sure if I can word it in a way that would be easy to understand.”  _

_ “So? Just keep talking. I’ll keep listening.” _

_ Alph smiled more, and reaching back into his college days he began to explain (and quite frankly, heavily criticize) the  _ _ Trenok _ _ system of space craft code.  _

* * *

“You listen. You listen and you care,

Oh Charlie,

How could I not love you?”

Alph stared at the page. Maybe this? He sighed and leaned his head into his hand. It was a start. 

* * *

_ Alph laid awake in his bed, overcome with a strong  _ _ realization _ _. He couldn’t fall asleep, not after this.  _

_ He loved him.  _

_ How Alph didn’t realize this sooner, he did not know. He thought about him constantly, he felt a nervous happiness when around him, hell he wrote a damn poem about the guy. Any yet he kept trying to  _ _ convince _ _ himself that he just looked up to him? No.  _

_ He loved him.  _

_ He loved him so much that it hurt.  _

_ What was he supposed to do about it? They were fighting for their life on an alien planet – he couldn’t be distracted by this. And that wasn’t even counting the numerous other issues. Did the captain even like men at all? Would he consider a captain–crew relationship to be too  _ _ unprofessional _ _? Stars forbid that he’d see a gay relationship taboo. What if the captain simply didn’t like him? What if he was rejected? _

_ Alph curled up into a tight ball. He had to tell him. He had to. He loved him.  _

_ But at the very least, it would have to wait. People were depending on them back home, and he couldn’t distract himself or the captain with whatever outcome the  _ _ confession _ _ would have.  _

_ But... it would hurt so much until then.  _

* * *

Alph kept staring at the paper in frustration, unable to come up with anything else. He eventually crumpled it up too, and threw it at his door. He laid his head down on his desk. This wasn’t working. None of his ideas were working. 

He heard a knock at the door. 

“I’m not feeling well.” Alph replied. He didn’t  exactly want to deal with any of the others right now.

The door opened anyways. “Alph? What’s wrong? I can get you some medicine.” Charlie’s voice rang through the room. 

Alph jumped up a bit. Oh stars, he was the last person he wanted to see. “Oh... I... I’m just burnt out is all.” He looked away from the captain again. “I think I just need to call it an early night.” 

“Struggling with your poems?”

“Yeah...”

A pause, then “Well, let me look at this one. Maybe I can help?”

Alph’s eyes widened and he quickly stood up to stop the captain. But it was too late, he had already uncrumpled the page and was reading it. It had only taken him a short moment to finish it, being only three lines long, and then he looked up and locked eyes with Alph. 

That was it then, huh? His heart had been exposed to the captain, and was laying out there bleeding. Alph could only lean his ears back and cling to his desk least he  fall over. 

“Alph...” Charlie’s words were soft, kind. “Alph, you don’t need to be afraid.” He was suddenly much closer now, and held out a hand to the shorter koppait. Alph looked at it, then at Charlie who seemed to be genuinely concerned. Alph elected to just hug him instead. 

He wanted to cry. He wanted to cry into the captain’s shoulder and let his worries fade away. But he didn’t. He just stood there as Charlie gently rubbed his back. The captain said some things that Alph couldn’t fully  process , but it all seemed to be an effort to calm him down. 

After a few moments, he could hear the captain say his name  clearly . He looked up at him. “Yes, Charlie?”

“Alph I... a lot has happened over the course of this mission. And I can’t fully understand most of it yet.”

Alph’s ears leaned back. Was he being rejected? 

“I don’t know how I feel about you – about this. I’d need time to think it over.” 

Alph sighed as he looked down. So no, not a rejection. But not an acceptance either. “I... I understand.” 

“Thank you, Alph.” The Captain pulled away a little. “I can promise you only this; I won’t leave you in the dark about whatever my choice is, regardless of what I choose.”

Alph nodded. 

Well, at least he had that?

* * *

It had been a little under a week now. They had just left  Hocotate , and were now heading to  koppai . It should  realistically only take a few hours. 

Alph was in his room again, writing some things down again. He was having a much easier time with it, given it was just about nature and not something as weird as love. Once again, he heard a knock at his door. 

“Come on in.” he replied. 

Charlie entered the room. “Hey, uh, I had something to ask of you.” 

Alph felt his stomach tighten. He couldn’t help it, he felt like he was going to burst from his pent-up emotions. Yet the captain knew about them, and that somehow made it worse. “Y-yeah?”

“It, uh... It’s also related to what... what I found out before.”

Alph’s stomach grew even tighter. “O-Oh...”

“Basically, once we’re back on  Koppai , and once the media is done parading us around would... would you still be interested in going out for some dinner with me?”

Alph’s eyes  widened a bit as his heart raced. “Yes!” he squeaked out just a little too quickly. 

Charlie smiled. “Oh! Well then... I guess we can figure out the details once we’re home. Does that sound alright?”

Alph had already stood up and was walking to Charlie. “Yeah! Yeah that’s good.”

Charlie raised an eyebrow and sighed. “Alright, I know what you want.” he said as he held his arms out. Alph immediately  clinged onto him, and Charlie hugged him back. The two stood like that for a good few moments before Alph pulled away a little to look up at Charlie. He was going to say something, but forgot what it was he wanted to  say. He and Charlie just stared at  each other for a moment, before the taller man gently leaned down and kissed his cheek. Alph squeaked, his face a bright red. 

“We’ll be back on  Koppai very soon.” Charlie explained. “So go ahead and get ready, okay?” 

Alph nodded as Charlie slipped away and left the room. He would get ready, but it’d be hard to focus. 

He was really doing it! He was really going to go on a date with Charlie!


End file.
